1. Field of the Invention
My invention relates to an apparatus for the filtration of contaminants in an air or gas flow stream and more particularly to a filter apparatus, automatically or manually operated, which employs a movable belt of filter medium with successive portions being traversed in seriatim transverse to the path of the air or gas flow stream being treated.
A filter is provided which presents a clean filtering area to an air or gas stream, the filtering area presented requiring a minimum of space and offering a maximum of resistance to the treated stream. The filter serves to capture and retain the contaminents in the stream.
More particularly, the invention provides an air or gas cleaning apparatus comprising a filter belt arranged to move in a path transverse to the air or gas flow stream being treated, so that successive portions of the filter belt are entered into the area of the flow stream at an entrance point, passed thereacross, then leave it at an exit point, together with means for moving in seriatim successive increments of the filter belt into and out of the flow stream.
2. Description of the Prior Art
No U.S. patent has been found, as a result of a preliminary search in the U.S. Patent Office which anticipates the combination of features disclosed in the present invention.
Movable filter belts cooperating with a vacuum chamber were found but each seems to lie in horizontal disposition and include:
______________________________________ Gerber et al 3,790,154 of Feb. 5, 1974 Pashaian et al 3,506,128 of Apr. 14, 1970 Deal et al 4,081,375 of Mar. 28, 1978 Percy 4,704,143 of Nov. 3, 1987 ______________________________________
The last cited patent, my own, shows the use of filter elements of differing porosities, which feature appears as a part of the present invention, but not, in the reference, in combination with an automatically or manually movable filter element.